FIG. 1 shows a network architecture of a common optical access network. The optical access network includes: a passive optical access network, for example, fiber to the x (FTTX); and an active access network. For example, a digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM) is connected to an optical line termination (OLT) by using an Ethernet (ETH).
FTTX is classified into fiber to the home (FTTH), fiber to the drop/distribution point (FTTDp), fiber to the building (FTTB), fiber to the curb (FTTC), and so on according to a location of an optical network unit (ONU).
Currently, a passive optical network (PON) technology is mainly used on an optical access network. At present, mature mainstream technologies mainly include an Ethernet passive optical network (EPON) and a gigabit passive optical network (GPON). A PON is a point-to-multipoint OAN technology, and includes an OLT, an ONU/optical network terminal (ONT), and an optical distribution network (ODN). Except for the FTTH, the last segment to the home that is connected to the PON is connected by using a drop copper cable (such as a phone twisted-pair cable, a wired television cable, an electrical power cable, or an Ethernet cable) or a radio interface as much as possible. A multi-x unit (MxU) (which refers to a multi-dwelling unit (MDU), a multi-tenant unit (MTU), or the like) is an ONU (which is usually frame-shaped equipment) in scenarios such as FTTB/FTTC, and a drop point unit (DPU) is an ONU (which is usually a small access box) in an FTTDp scenario. In addition, when the PON is applied to a hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) network or a network related to the Data-over-Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS). The ONU may be a cable modem terminal system (CMTS), a cable media converter (CMC), a converged cable access platform (CCAP) device, or the like. In FIG. 1, a customer premises equipment (CPE) may be connected to a DPU in a wired/wireless manner, or may be connected to an MxU or a digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM) by using a digital subscriber line (DSL), to access an optical network.
Existing access network devices such as an MxU, a DSLAM, a CMTS, and a CCAP all have a large size. However, as technologies develop, access network devices are developing toward miniaturization, and a large quantity of cable modems (CM), DPUs, ONTs, miniaturized MxUs/DSLAMs, miniaturized CMCs/CMTSs/CCAPs, and the like will be used. A quantity of such access network devices, serving as remote access nodes on an optical access network, increases hundredfold or thousandfold, and a quantity of ONTs/DPUs is even of the same order of magnitude as that of home gateways. According to an existing method, each remote access node needs to be manually configured before accessing a network. Therefore, presence of a large quantity of remote access nodes increases device management complexity.
Moreover, on a communications network, authentication is usually performed on an identity of a device user. However, this cannot prevent an invalid node from accessing the communications network. Consequently, there may be a large quantity of invalid nodes on the communications network.